About Mike & Karen

Karen loves scavenger hunts and clues, so I decided to hand-make a wooden musical puzzle box, with three keys of different shapes and sizes. I decided to do the scavenger hunt at her house because that's really where we got to know each other, and because it made it more personal to have her family there (who were also in on the proposal!) To find each key, she had to solve sentimental clues of things that brought us together, and a few of the clues were custom music strips that played a tune if you cranked the wheel on the side of the box. At first she didn't know what the music strip was for, but she quickly realized that it was really a music box and boy did her face light up! After all keys were found, she opened the box to find a hand carved whale inside. I pretended that the whale was the final present, and that it was for our anniversary. On top of the whale I carved out a coin slot like the ones you find on piggy banks. I told her that it was supposed to be a piggy bank, but I didn't have enough time to carve the inside so for now she could just put a quarter in the coin slot. I said "Here, I have a quarter… try this out," then I placed the ring on top of the whale, dropped to one knee and told her I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I asked my best friend to marry me, and this August I couldn't be more proud to call her my wife.

Clue #1 – "Hurry! This clue looks mighty tasty!"
(Hidden in our rabbits cage, because they like to eat cardboard)

Clue #2 – Music strip that played "Super Mario" theme song.
We like to play Mario Kart lol… She beats me 8 out of 10 games.
(Hidden in the Mario Kart disc case – First Key)

Clue #3 – Where we had our first conversation
(Hidden under her kitchen table – Second Key)

Clue #4 – Music strip that played "My Neighbor Totoro" theme song.
One of our favorite movies, "FIND ME!" was the clue.
(Hidden in potted Bonzai because Totoro lived in a tree – Third Key)

Wedding Details

When

Sunday, June 30, 2013
5:30pm

How

For guests coming from out of town, we suggest that you fly into the Norfolk International Airport (ORF). As an alternative, you can also find flights into the Newport News / Williamsburg International Airport (PHF) and drive 45 minutes to Norfolk.

For hotels, we recommend staying at the Courtyard Norfolk Downtown is a short 20 minute drive away from the wedding and is offering us a special rate of $119/night for our wedding weekend (Friday-Sunday). However, you are not required to book all three days, you can still get the discounted rate however long you choose to stay. These rates will be offered until 06/14/13. After the cutoff date, rooms will be full price and on a first-come, first-serve basis. We suggest you book as early as possible. Just tell them you're with the Dalde-Ancaya wedding; or, if booking online, enter code "DAWS". Please also note, there is a daily parking fee of $10, discounted for our wedding party.

If you are planning to spend most of your time closer to the beach side, we recommend booking a hotel in the Town Center area, as that is the halfway point between the beach and our wedding location. Please keep in mind that the drive to the wedding location will be a bit farther (around 45min), so please plan accordingly.

Attire

The ceremony and reception will be held outdoors, so please dress comfortably. But please, no jeans. For the ladies, the bridal party will be wearing a floral pattern, so if you'd like to match with us, that's OK too! We also recommend wearing flats or wedges, because heels might sink into the grass. Summer hats are also welcome. Attire for the guys is summer-formal, meaning suits are optional. We understand that wearing a suit coat in the middle of the summer isn't exactly the most comfortable thing!

Ladies, don't forget to bring flip flops or some comfortable dancing shoes, the dance floor will be on the patio area.


Things to Do

There are plenty of things to do in Virginia Beach especially since it will be the perfect beach weather in June. If you are looking to do a bit of shopping and dining we recommend touring the Downtown Norfolk area on Granby Street. The McArthur Mall is right there, and there are lots of great spots to eat. The oceanfront also has a lot of good restaurants and activities, like Waterman's Surfside Grill and if you time it right you might just catch a street performance or two. If you'd like to know any of the local hotspots and eateries give us a shout or check out this website.

There is some public transportation available, like the Lightrail in Norfolk or the public buses that run to the beach. However, for ease of travel we recommend getting a rental car to see the town at your leisure.

Feel free to email us at mikedalde@gmail.com with any questions.

Registry

Dear Friends and Family,

We know that a lot of our guests have to travel quite a distance to spend this special day with us. We love all of you deeply, and are so blessed that you would want to honor us with gifts to start our new life together. But we are asking in love and sincerity to first and foremost, use your hard earned money to get to Virginia Beach!

Having you here with us to celebrate means more to us than spatulas or bed sheets, we promise! And let's face it, the economy ain't exactly booming these days.

We are currently registered online at MyRegistry.com. Instead of registering at one store, we were able to register multiple items from any store online into one master list held here on the site. Pretty cool, right? Here's a quick guide to the site:

  • Upon choosing an item, you with then be led to the original site where the item was found, and proceed to checkout there

  • Please make sure to return and mark your gift as purchased to prevent other people from buying this gift!

All our love,
Mike & Karen